“Seattle’s enthusiastic film audiences continued to affirm SIFF’s prominence as a world-class showcase for extraordinary film experiences,” says Carl Spence, SIFF Artistic Director. “Almost half of this year’s feature films were from first or second time directors, and seventy percent entered the Festival without US distribution, maintaining SIFF’s reputation as a fiercely independent showcase for audience discovery.”
SIFF 2008 Awards

The Golden Space Needle Award winners were announced at a ceremony earlier today. More than 70,000 ballots were cast by SIFF audiences to determine the winner in six categories: Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Short Film.

Also presented were six juried SIFF 2008 Competition Awards: New American Cinema Award, New Directors Showcase Award, Best Documentary Award, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, and Best Animated Short.

SIFF 2008 Competition Grand Jury Award winners receive a $5,000 cash prize, a hand-made glass creation by artist James Mongrain, Movie Magic Screenwriter software, and a DVD replication prize package from Discmakers. New American Cinema Competition winner receives an annual subscription to The Studio System from Baseline Studio Systems. New Directors Showcase and Documentary Competition winners receive an annual subscription to FilmTracker from Baseline Studio Systems.

SIFF 2008 New American Cinema Competition

Grand Jury Prize: "Em,"
directed by Tony Barbieri (USA)
Jury Statement: “In Em, writer-director Tony Barbieri tackles the timely and original subject of love and mental illness, with the help of his two excellent leads, Stef Willen and Nathan Wetherington. It’s a sweet, sad, scary movie that feels completely contemporary.”

Special Jury Prize: "The Bluetooth Virgin"
director: Russell Brown
Jury Statement: “The Special Jury Prize is awarded to The Bluetooth Virgin and writer-director Russell Brown for his fresh and squirmy script.”

The New American Cinema jury was comprised of: Rajendra Roy, Chief Curator, Film Department at MoMA; David Schmader, associate editor at The Stranger; and Kyle Thorpe, Vice President of Publicity at Focus Features.
SIFF 2008 New Directors Showcase Competition

Grand Jury Prize: "Everything is Fine,"
directed by Yves-Christian Fournier (Canada)
Jury Statement: “The New Directors Showcase Prize for director of a first or second feature goes to Yves-Christian Fournier from Quebec, Canada, and his film Everything is Fine, for its skillful avoidance of the nihilistic clichés in its treatment of contemporary youth. The jury would also like to commend the outstanding performance of Marie Turgeon in the role of the mother.”

Special Jury Prize: "Mermaid,"
directed by Anna Melikyan (Russia)
Jury Statement: “The jury would also like to award a special mention to Mermaid by Anna Melikyan from Russia for its entertaining portrait of Russia and its growing pains as it transitions into a capitalist society.”

The New Directors Showcase jury was comprised of: Frederic Boyer, programmer for Director’s Fortnight, Cannes Film Festival; Oliver Mahrdt, president of Hanns Wolters International, and East Coast representative of German Films; and Charles Taylor, ?lm critic for the Newark Star-Ledger and Bloomberg News.
SIFF 2008 Documentary Competition

Grand Jury Prize: "Derek,"
directed by Isaac Julien (UK)
Jury Statement: “The Grand Jury Prize is awarded to Isaac Julien’s Derek for the strength of both the subject and the filmmaking.”

Documentary Competition Special Jury Prizes:
Jury Statements:
"Combalion," directed by Raphaël Mathié (France), “…for its artistic integrity and visually arresting composition.”

"Accelerating America," directed by Timothy Hotchner (USA), “…for capturing the inspiration of the subject and the humanistic heart of the film.”

The Documentary jury was comprised of: Ken Eisen, president of Shadow Distribution; Julie Goldman, founding partner of Cactus Three; and Steven Raphael, founder of Required Viewing.
SIFF 2008 Short Film Jury Awards

SIFF 2008 Grand Jury Short Film Award winners receive a $2,500 cash prize, a hand-made glass creation by artist James Mongrain, Movie Magic Screenwriter software, a DVD replication prize package from Discmakers, and an annual subscription to FilmTracker from Baseline Studio Systems.

Documentary Grand Jury Prize:
“Self Portrait With Cows Going Home” and Other Works: A Portrait of Sylvia Plachy, directed by Rebecca Dreyfus, U

USA Documentary Special Jury Prize: "The Ladies," directed by Christina Voros, USA

Animation Grand Jury Prize:
"The Pearce Sisters," directed by Luis Cook, UK Animation Special Jury Prize: Home, directed by Kim Slate, USA

Narrative Grand Jury Prize: "Rewind,"
directed by Atul Taishete, India

Narrative Special Jury Prizes: "Walnut,"
directed by Amy Gebhardt, Australia

"Dog Altogether,"
directed by Paddy Considine, UK

"A Mate,"
directed by Teemu Nikki, Finland

"New Boy,"
directed by Steph Green, Ireland

Honorable Mentions for Inventive Filmmaking: "Introduction to Lucid Dreaming,"
directed by John Grigsby, USA

"On the Assassination of the President,"
directed by Adam Keker, USA

The Short Film jury was comprised of: Scilla Andreen, co-founder of IndieFlix; Seattle Filmmaker Douglas Horn, winner of the 2006 Golden Space Needle for Best Short Film; and Jeff Shannon, Film critic for the Seattle Times and P-I.

SIFF 2008 FutureWave Jury Award

SIFF 2008 FutureWave WaveMaker Award winner receives a $2,500 cash prize.

Grand Jury Prize (WaveMaker Award): "Disorder," directed by Rose McAleese

Honorable Mentions: "4th Floor,"
directed by Misami Kubo, “…for excellence in visual storytelling.”

"Driving to the New Age: American Automobiles and You,"
directed by Meng Mao, Eli Shalcross, Charlie Shelton, and Matt Yaggy, “…for delivering a serious message through outstanding use of satire.”

"New Perspective,"
directed by Dave Riff, “…for clarity of vision.”

The FutureWave jury was comprised of the participants in the 2008 Fly Filmmaking challenge: Cheryl Slean, Megan Griffiths, Rob Cunningham, Andy McCone and Joe Shapiro.

SIFF and IndieFlix 2008 MyFestival Winners

SIFF and IndieFlix MyFestival Feature Film winner receives a $1,500 cash prize; Short Film winner receives a $500 cash prize.

SIFF Official Selection and MyFestival Feature Film Winner:

"Perfect Sport," directed by Anthony O’Brien
SIFF Official Selection and MyFestival Short Film Winner:
Robbie’s Withdrawal, directed by John Burish

MyFestival Special Recognition Awards: "Eternal City," directed by Jason Goodman

"Hot Wind: America’s Fallout Casualties,"
directed by Kirsten Alaqidy

SIFF 2008 Golden Space Needle Audience Awards

SIFF 2008 Golden Space Needle Award winners receive a hand-made glass creation by artist James Mongrain. Golden Space Needle Award Best Short Film winner receives $1,000 of Color Negative Motion Picture Film from the Eastman Kodak Company Entertainment Imaging Division, and an Apple Intel 15" Laptop Computer loaded with the Final Cut Pro Suite of products from IrisInk and The Mac Store.

Best Film Golden Space Needle Award: "Cherry Blossoms – Hanami,"
directed by Doris Dörrie (Germany)

The remaining top ten audience favorites (in order)
"Frozen River,"
directed by Courtney Hunt (USA)

"Fugitive Pieces,"
directed by Jeremy Podeswa (Canada)

"Captain Abu Raed,"
directed by Amin Matalqa (Jordan)

"The Drummer,"
directed by Kenneth Bi (Hong Kong)

"Summer Heat,"
directed by Monique van de Ven (the Netherlands)

"Letting Go of God,"
directed by Julia Sweeney (USA)

"Late Bloomers,"
directed by Bettina Oberli (Switzerland)

"Bliss,"
directed by Abdullah Oguz (Turkey)

"Michou d’Auber,"
directed by Thomas Gilou (France)

Best Documentary Golden Space Needle Award: "The Wrecking Crew,"
directed by Denny Tedesco (USA)

The remaining top ten audience favorites (in order):

"Great Speeches From a Dying World,"
directed by Linas Phillips (USA)

"Man on Wire,"
directed by James Marsh (UK)

"Accelerating America,"
directed by Timothy Hotchner (USA)

"Creative Nature,"
directed by John Andres (USA)

"Emmanuel Jal: War Child,"
directed by C. Karim Chrobog (USA)

"Trouble the Water,"
directed by Carl Deal and Tia Lessin (USA)

"Stranded: I’ve Come From a Plane that Crashed in the Mountains,"
directed by Gonzalo Arijon (France)

"Good Food,"
directed by Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin (USA)

"They Killed Sister Dorothy," directed by Daniel Junge (USA)

Best Director Golden Space Needle Award:
Amin Matalqa, for "Captain Abu Raed" (Jordan)

The remaining top five audience favorites (in order)
Courtney Hunt, for "Frozen River" (USA)
Nina Paley, for "Sita Sings the Blues" (USA)
Dorota Kedzierzawska, for "Time to Die" (Poland)
Nic Balthazar, for "Ben X" (Belgium)

Best Actor Golden Space Needle Award:
Alan Rickman, for "Bottle Shock" (USA)

The remaining top five audience favorites (in order)
Nadim Sawalha, for "Captain Abu Raed" (Jordan)
Andrew Garfield, for "Boy A" (UK)
Zdenerk Sverák, for "Empties" (Czech Republic)
Greg Timmermans, for "Ben X" (Belgium)

Best Actress Golden Space Needle Award:
Jessica Chastain, for "Jolene" (USA)

The remaining top five audience favorites (in order)
Catinca Untaru, for "The Fall" (USA)
Melissa Leo, for "Frozen River "(USA)
Danuta Szaflarska, for "Time to Die" (Poland)
Melanie Diaz, for "American Son" (USA)

Best Short Film Golden Space Needle Award:
"Felix," directed by Andreas Utta (Germany)

The remaining top five audience favorites (in order)
"Sleeping Betty," directed by Claude Cloutier (Canada)
"Bailey-Boushay House: A Living History," directed by Terence Brown (USA)
"Zoologic," directed by Nicole Mitchell (USA)
"Spider," directed by Nash Edgerton (Australia)

Lena Sharpe Award:
"Frozen River," director Courtney Hunt (USA)
This award is given to the film by a woman director that receives the most votes from the public.